189-235A: Algebra 1

Assignments

The bi-weekly assignments are an essential part of the course. You should plan
to devote at least ten hours a week (and quite possibly more) to the
assignments.
If you are stuck on a problem, you may seek out the help of a
TA, the professor, or one of your classmates. It is OK to work on the
assignments in groups, although you should hand them in individually.
Do not neglect the assignments:
experience shows there is a strong correlation between the work you put into
them and how much you learn in the course, which will of course be reflected
in your exam performance.
The assignments are normally due on Mondays
and will be graded and returned to you on the Monday of the following week.
Late assignments will not be accepted.

Here are some guidelines for turning in your assignments that have been suggested by
one of your graders (Olivier Martin). I am posting them here and you should take them to heart!

All assignments:

1. should be presented as cleanly and clearly as possible.
If your handwriting is less legible no you might want to consider typing your assignments.

2. Must be stapled individually (no paper clips, no tape, no
origami, no plastic pockets, etc). Remember that there is a stapler in the 10th flor office where you hand back your assignments, should you need it.

3. Must be handed in on time. Remember that late assignments will not be accepted.

4. Should present problems in order.

5. Should clearly bear the name and McGill
ID of the student at the top of the first page.

Tips for writing proofs:
When writing a proof, make sure to proceed linearly.
For instance, say you want to prove the identity A=Z.
If you know A=B, B=C, etc, write A=B=...=Z.
This makes the proof easy to read as the reader only has to check each
statement independently.
In highschool some of you may have acquired the bad habit of
writing the same proof by starting with A=Z,
which you do not know to hold a priori
(this already gives a hard time to the grader, who is left to guess whether you know
what you are doing or are
instead assuming what you were asked to prove),
then proceed to write B=Y
(since A=B, Y=Z this holds if and only if A=Z holds), C=W, ... up to L=M say.
But you know L=M to be true so going up the chain this means A=Z.
This is logically correct but very confusing and hard to follow as the
proof is essentially written upside down. I did not penalize
anyone for this on the first assignment because MATH 235 is one of the
first proof based courses but make sure to write proofs where, proceeding
from the top to the bottom, every statement can be deduced from the previous
statements.
Finally, some of you seem to be fervent advocates of the LHS, RHS school
of proof writing. Note that if one can proceed linearly to show
LHS=A=B=...=Z=RHS one should try to avoid showing that LHS=A=...=Z=Z',
RHS=A'=B'=...=Z' which implies LHS=RHS. If lenghty computations are
involved and one has difficulty using the first method of proof then
one is justified in using the second.

Finally, let me add a suggestions of my own:

When writing up your proof, make sure that you explain your reasoning clearly
and fully, using complete sentences. Mathematical notation, although admirable
in its conciseness and power in many contexts, is no substitute
for clearly written prose.
Remember that in an exam or assignment,
a wrong answer preceded by an almost correct, cogently argued
justification will earn you (a lot of) extra credit. The same answer with no
explanation of what led you there will earn you no points at all: the grader,
unable to read your mind, will be forced to assume the worst...